REHAB HOMES RILE RESIDENTS

Newport Beach aims to hold a conference in March on oversight.

A transplant from the East Coast, Bob Rush settled into the sandy
rows of west Newport Beach 20 years ago and thought he had "died and
gone to heaven."

A few years back, though, Rush sensed a little trouble in paradise as
the quaint bungalows that once captivated him began housing men and
women struggling to kick drug and alcohol addictions.

The newcomers maintained odd hours. They smoked heavily, used
profanity and loitered "menacingly."

"All of a sudden, everywhere I turn, they're everywhere," Rush said
while walking along River Avenue on a recent morning. Using state
records and anecdotal evidence, he counts 14 units within five blocks
of his house.

Now politicians in Newport, around the county and even in Sacramento
are taking notice as well.

Saying the character of neighborhoods is at stake, officials are
seeking more control of drug-treatment and sober-living houses they
say have proliferated unchecked. Because various laws restrict
oversight of the homes, their exact numbers in various communities are unknown.

Some rehabilitation-home operators sympathize with community concern.
But, they argue, most treatment houses are quiet and well-kept, their
images tarnished by a few bad apples.

Nevertheless, Newport's leaders want to bring stakeholders from
around California together for a conference on the issue in March. A
state senator has agreed to carry a bill to give cities more oversight.

Several Orange County cities, including Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa and
Orange, also have sizable numbers of treatment homes and are looking
to join the effort, officials say.

But similar efforts have flagged repeatedly.

Behind the Growth

Many homeowners blame Proposition 36, which was approved in 2000 and
allows drug treatment instead of prison for some offenders, for the
growth of the rehab centers.

The number of drug-possession offenders in California prisons fell by
more than 25 percent from December 2000 to December 2005, a study by
the Washington, D.C.-based Justice Policy Institute says.

"We're trading overcrowding in our prisons" for overcrowding in
neighborhoods, Rush said.

Many home operators say their clients come from out of state, lured
by the sun-and-sand image of Newport.

There's also a strong profit motive.

A beachfront house can lease for about $5,000 a month, but patients
pay hefty premiums for their care, often more than $20,000 for a 90-day stay.

Emotions Run High

Whatever the cause, the influx is raising hackles. In recent months,
six to eight complaints have come in every month to Newport Beach City Hall.

Residents blame the homes and their occupants for noise, loitering,
trash and savaged property values.

"If your house is right next to one, good luck selling your home,"
said resident Drew Wetherholt, a landlord who says the rehab homes
have made finding female tenants and charging market-rate rents difficult.

At Newport's largest rehabilitation home, a triplex on West
Oceanfront, police were summoned 20 times in the past year, mainly
for illegal parking or medical aid. One call involved a disturbance
resulting in an arrest, and another involved assault with a deadly weapon.

Conversely, four of Newport's licensed recovery houses had no police
activity since August 2005, and several others summoned police only
for medical situations.

Operators say they do their best to stay under the radar and maintain
rapport with neighbors. "We just try to have everybody keep to
themselves," said Kevin Sullivan, president of The Shores Treatment
and Recovery Center, which runs two homes in Newport.

At Ocean Recovery on West Balboa Boulevard, house rules prohibit
profanity outdoors and loitering in alleys. "I don't think it's a
majority of the treatment centers the problems are coming from, but
some are pretty lax about keeping a rein on their folks, and people
have a right to be concerned about their community," said Mike
Ballue, program director at the facility.

Tough to Track

While complaints can be quantified, there's one thing that can't -
the actual number of homes. The state lists 11 drug-treatment homes
licensed in Newport Beach. But the Web site of one company, Sober
Living by the Sea, describes "over 30 gender-specific houses along
the Balboa Peninsula."

The discrepancy can be chalked up to state and federal statutes that
limit oversight of the homes.

State law says rehabilitation houses with six or fewer residents are
to be treated as regular homes, meaning cities can't control where
they locate. In Balboa, where two-story duplexes and three-story
triplexes are common, 10 to 30 residents may be squeezed onto a single lot.

Fair-housing laws classify recovering addicts as handicapped, and so
distinct regulations would in many cases be discriminatory. "We don't
know" how many treatment homes exist, Newport Beach City Attorney
Robin Clauson said. "We have no idea."

State laws that allow a 300-foot buffer between certain group homes
don't apply to drug-treatment and sober-living houses. There are at
least six sober-living homes in a six-block stretch of Seashore
Drive, state records show, and several homes on adjoining blocks.

The story is the same elsewhere, as is the emerging discontent.
Newport's idea for a conference has brought overtures from cities
across the state, including Bakersfield, Chula Vista, Oceanside,
Sacramento and Walnut Creek, officials say.

Finding Help

Recovering addicts can find help in many forms, including counseling,
medication and outpatient therapy. Residential drug treatment
supplements those methods by immersing patients in society. Such
"therapeutic communities" typically reduce subsequent arrests among
patients by 40 percent or more, according to the National Institute
on Drug Abuse.

Locals acknowledge as much. But they wonder whether the concentration
of homes undermines the goal of acclimating drug offenders to daily
life. "You're basically creating institutions in the middle of a
residential area," Clauson said.

"We don't mind them sporadically throughout our neighborhoods, but
it's the overproliferation," resident Joe Reiss said.

The Political Landscape

Two bills proposed last year would have subjected the locations of
rehabilitation homes to greater scrutiny. One proposed law was
actively opposed by handicapped-rights groups, including a California
nonprofit called Protection and Advocacy Inc.

The group said the legislation could result in limited rehabilitation
opportunities because of "local opposition that may be based on
unwarranted fears, derogatory stereotypes, or the belief that such
facilities simply do not belong."

Both bills died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

In the latest endeavor, state Sen. Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach,
next year plans to introduce a bill to clamp down on the homes.

"It's just an area that frankly is calling out for legislative
reform," Harman said.

Expecting opposition, officials have broached the idea of a ballot
initiative if state legislation again hits roadblocks.

Money will be key to successful lobbying, and officials say
cooperation among cities is essential. "We as cities need to band
together," said Councilman Steve Rosansky, who represents west
Newport. "No one city is going to solve this problem. We need to sink
or swim together."

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DRUG-REHAB HOMES IN ORANGE COUNTY

The state licenses some drug-rehabilitation homes, including ones
that provide treatment and detoxification services. Homes that simply
supply a cooperative living environment, often called sober-living
homes, don't need licenses, hampering cities' ability to track them.

Newport Beach, for example, has 11 homes licensed by the state, but
officials say there could be 50 or more. One company, Sober Living by
the Sea, runs more than 30 rehabilitation homes on the Balboa Peninsula.

Here's a look at the number of state-licensed, residential
drug-treatment homes in Orange County as of Sept. 13.

Costa Mesa: 20

Santa Ana: 20

Orange: 17

Newport Beach: 11

Anaheim: 9

Laguna Beach: 8

Capistrano Beach: 7

Garden Grove: 5

Tustin: 5

San Clemente: 4

Fullerton: 3

San Juan Capistrano: 2

Dana Point: 2

Huntington Beach: 2

Irvine: 1

Laguna Hills: 1